WASHINGTON — The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) welcomed two of their newest “employees” who are charged with serving as ambassadors to America’s youth:  Flat Stanley and Flat Stella.  As a symbol of education and literacy, these characters help educate children across the globe, and FEMA’s Flat Stanley and Flat Stella are helping to teach children and their families about emergency preparedness. 

The introduction of Flat Stanley and Flat Stella is just one part of a larger outreach effort by FEMA to America’s youth. This week, FEMA’s Youth Preparedness Council will meet with senior leaders of FEMA leadership and other federal and private sector partners to develop new ways for young people to play an active part in strengthening the nation’s resiliency in the face of emergency situations.   In addition to Flat Stanley and Stella, FEMA’s Ready.gov Kids (http://www.ready.gov/kids) provides materials and resources for kids and their families to take action to be prepared. 

“Flat Stanley and Flat Stella are great communication tools that are being added to FEMA’s Whole Community approach to emergency management,” said FEMA Administrator Craig Fugate. “Reaching out to children, parents of young children, and teachers is essential in instilling a message of self-reliance, resilience and preparedness. We are using new media and emerging technologies to target and engage youth in our outreach efforts and incorporating their ideas for preparedness and emergency management.”

As part of the new Flat Stanley and Flat Stella initiative, FEMA and Flatter World, Inc. have joined forces in a collaborative effort to create interactive experiences for students, including a mobile application that provides youth with state of the art interactive and informative experiences both inside and outside of the classroom in the area of emergency preparedness.  

Children, with the assistance of their parents, can download and create their own free customized character on the Flat Stanley website or through the Flat Stanley Mobile Application.  They can share their experiences creating a preparedness kit and their virtual adventure tour with other Flat Stanley users.

FEMA is listed as a destination on the Flat Stanley Mobile Application so kids and their parents can create a character, send it on a virtual FEMA tour and learn how to get better prepared.  On the virtual tour, characters interact with agency personnel, learn about field operations and visit other families who are putting together their own emergency preparedness plans and kits.  Custom FEMA Flat Stanley and Stella templates are also available to assist in preparedness education at www.ready.gov/flatstanley.    

In addition to following the Flat Stanley and Flat Stella characters through their experiences on the mobile app, kids and their families can follow the characters as new FEMA employees on FEMA’s blog.  There they will post information about their experiences, share news about work that is done at the agency and offer timely tips.  

Flat Stanley and Stella also have an interactive space on the Flat Stanley website, and an official e-mail account at FEMA (stanleyandstella@fema.dhs.gov) where parents and their children can contact FEMA to ask questions or offer their stories.

FLAT STANLEY® is an award-winning educational project encompassing more than 6000 schools registered in 88 countries around the world, and is included in the curriculum for more than 15% of elementary schools in the United States. FLAT STANLEY® is a trademark of the Trust u/w/o Richard C. Brown f/b/o Duncan Brown.  FEMA does not endorse any non-Federal government entities.

Follow FEMA online at http://blog.fema.gov, www.twitter.com/fema, www.facebook.com/fema, and www.youtube.com/fema.  Also, follow Administrator Craig Fugate’s activities at www.twitter.com/craigatfema.  The social media links provided are for reference only. 

FEMA’s mission is to support our citizens and first responders to ensure that as a nation we work together to build, sustain, and improve our capability to prepare for, protect against, respond to, recover from, and mitigate all hazards.